


Short-winded elations

by pr_scatterbrain



Category: Actor RPF, Entourage
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-25
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-10 11:41:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/465872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pr_scatterbrain/pseuds/pr_scatterbrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all about the hustle. Nothing more than that.</p><p>An au where Vince meets Rose Byrne at <i>The Great Gatsby</i> premiere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Short-winded elations

 

 

 

In Cannes, at _The Great Gatsby_ premiere, Vince stands on the same carpet as Martin Scorsese and the cast, as well as on a few other carpets with various other people he knows or will know, if E and Ari get him signed onto the next project like the said they will. 

He isn't nervous. 

He isn't. It's all about the hustle. Nothing more than that. 

Inside the theatre someone bumps into E. The guy spils his drink all over E's suit.

He ignores E when he automatically tells the guy to fuck off and Ari until he realises that the someone he spill his drink on was a someone important and tries to charm them. The guy's face is familiar. But everyone's is here. It's been a while since E reacted like that, Vince thinks, a litle, but only for a little while. 

 

 

He's a hand up as far as things go. A premiere and a home town one at that. He doesn't know if it should feel strange. If he should. He's only a few miles from where he grew up. Twenty something years distance between boxed ears and a red carpet. It's something he supposes he should feel more acutely than he does. 

In the corner of his eye he sees a miserable looking girl in a bronze dress tells the bartender she wants another glass of red wine. He's on champagne. Vince doesn't know how, but end up talking to the girl. She doesn't want to be there. It's obvious to everyone. He wants to ask her why she's there then. No ones stopping her from leaving. But he doesn't get the chance. 

Ari pulls him away to talk to someone else (someone more important (than a skirt)). 

 

 

The numbers look good. Or so he's been told. The numbers look better in London. But not in Sydney. He supposes you can't win them all. Ari despairs though. Vince tries to watch his mouth. He's not very good at that. E is. That's why Vince has him. 

They all go out later. Except for E, who stays in the hotel and calls Sloan (even though he shouldn't). 

Vince brings back a girl. Her name is Camille and she's fun and together they have a lot of fun. It, like many other things, goes how things now go for him. So it's not too bad, not at all. 

 

 

After the promotion tour ends, they head back to LA. 

Vince goes back to not reading scripts (past the first twenty pages), drinking, smoking, going out. He meets a few girls, fucks a couple of them. Ari begins talks for their next project. E starts telling Vince to listen. 

Cannes stops being an event he went to a month ago, and becomes an event he went to three month ago, and then six months ago. 

 

 

Vince calls E. 

The line is engaged. Sloan is taking E's calls now. She wants them to be friends. E wants other things. He always has. Vince thinks E always will. But especially with her. He moved into her friend's place a week or so ago. He's still there. Still waiting. Vince doesn't think E'll be waiting too much longer. But not in the way Vince wants. 

He leaves a message.

 

 

He gets offered a role in the second _Cities of Love_ film. The New York version follows the first section; _Paris J'taime_. He's already signed on the dotted line to do the Ferrari film, but that doesn't start filming for a few weeks. In-between getting his licence, he's got the time. It's only five days work. He supposes it's a favour since Billy is directing it. 

He plays a guy who mugs a girl. Twice.

The girl is played by Rose Byrne who Vince swears he's meet before. 

He can't ask her if they have. That would be rude. Even if she's just a TV actor, it would be rude. So he doesn't. For the first day he toes the line between the two. Or the morning. Until she makes it clear she doesn't care either way. 

It's difficult. Pushing her. Shoving her. She's frail. 

Billy doesn't care for niceties. The first shot of the day has Vince knocking her to the ground. He's a good actor though. He doesn't flinch. He supposes she's a good actor too. Because when she lets out a muffled cry, he wants too. 

They go out together after the day ends. Johnny is back in LA. So is E. Work. (Work, work, work). New York is a different city. Downtown, Billy gets drunk and gets into a fight. Turtle pulls him out. By the time they get to whatever uptown event they had been invited to, Billy lip is swollen. 

Rose meets them there. Dressed in a wine red dress, he misses her when he initially scans the room. Billy has to point her out. Then he goes to get her (himself) a drink. She is looking at a blonde - Claire Danes - but when Vince draws closer, he realises she's looking at the guy standing next to Claire, laughing at her jokes. The husband. Not just 'the guy.'

"She advertises paint," Rose comments. 

Claire also looks like she'll win an Emmy Award.

Rose turns away. 

"I thought Billy was getting me a drink," she says. 

Vince glances at the bar. "He must have forgotten." 

She smiles. But it isn't a smile. Not even close. And Vince remembers her now. 

Her eyes stray back to Claire and Hugh - Vince remembers him. _Black Hawk Down_. Hugh Darcy. Claire's husband. His gaze stray from his wife. It pass over Rose on the way to the bar. It doesn't pause. It doesn't come back either. 

Rose smiles that cool nothing of a smile again. She says something flippant about getting her own drink. Vince looks at her. He - he looks at her, standing there in that wine red dress, slight and sober, her expression so perfectly pitched. He looks at her. Vince - 

He kisses her because no one else will.

 

 

NYC isn't LA. No photographs come out the next day. A few rumours do. But they will fade. Shauna is so sure she doesn't even bother calling him personally. E does. But that's not the point of the call. 

"It's nothing," Vince says anyway. 

"Good," E answers, before changing subjects to the Enzo biopic. 

On the set Rose says the same thing Vince did. But to him, not E. 

They don't talk about it again. 

 

 

They film the bulk of the short film over the following two days. Billy rewrites one or two lines. Adds a few extra. Other than that, they stick to the schedule. They have too. E was clear about that. Vince has to be in Rome on Darabont's set in a fortnight. Billy can't keep him any longer than a week. He'll push it though. Vince knows he will. E is in LA. He can't fly out. Not even for a day. Unlike before, he's just a voice at the end of the line. 

After they wrap for the day, he goes and sees his mother. 

Turtle comes too. In the kitchen, his mother uses her handkerchief to wipe away a smudge of foundation that the one make-up girl forgot to remove. The collision of the two worlds doesn't feel strange. It doesn't feel like too much at all, really. 

His mother has seen the show Rose is in. She doesn't watch much TV (or anything), but Vince knows she's trying. So when his mother asks if Rose is nice, he nods. He supposes she is. His mother smiles. Happy that her question was acceptable. 

Vince thinks she'll never be used to what he does. 

He feels homesick. 

 

 

They go out the next night. The club is loud. They force Rose to come too, even though it isn't her thing. The sound guy makes her dance. He buys her a drink too. Then Vince buys everyone a round. She starts giggling. Her cheeks red and her hair mussed. When she starts to sway, the make up girl gathers her up and sits her down. 

Billy curls an arm over her shoulder and laughs. 

He laughs and he has another shot. 

When Vince finally hits the sheets, he notices a missed call from E. He didn't hear it. The music was too loud.

 

 

Billy does keep Vince longer than five days. 

E is abusive over the phone. So is Billy. It holds up shooting. 

Vince and Rose sit on the curb and pretend they aren't listening. They're good actors so it looks convincing. 

"We're good liars," she corrects. 

"There's a difference."

She shakes her head. "No. There isn't." 

 

 

On the last night they have a cast party. Or they all go out and Vince gets everyone into the VIP section and then buys drinks. Which really, isn't that much different to any of the other nights they all went out together. Johnny is there though. They plan to fly out to Italy together. So that's something. 

At the end of the night they ended up crashing at Rose's place. Billy does too. He's thinking about doing something else with her. He likes her. Well, as much as he likes anyone. 

"Frigid bitch," he says affectionately after she has shut the door to her room. 

Johnny sniggers. But he's drunk, so he would. 

 

 

In the morning she toasts to his trip with a glass of red while Johnny makes them breakfast. 

"It's only noon," he tells her, hung over. 

"Not in Rome," she answers. 

He supposes it is true. She lets him share her glass. 

 

 

He gets to Rome okay. On time too. When he touches down, Turtle tells him that E proposed to Sloan. 

"She said yes." 

"Fuck," Johnny swears. "E's getting married?"

"Fuck yeah." Turtle answers. 

"Oh," Vince says, after a beat. Then gets Turtle to send flowers. 

He - he doesn't know. He sends flowers though. Bright and colourful and sweet smelling. 

 

 

On his days off, he takes to driving around the Italian countryside. Turtle bitches and moans about it, but Vince doesn't think he's driving is all that bad. 

Maybe he isn't seeing all that much more of Italy in the driver’s seat, but he thinks he sees something. 

 

 

E doesn't come to Rome much. Even while he's there, he's not. Which doesn't make sense. Not really. Or at all. Vince doesn't say anything. He doesn't know why. It doesn't matter though, because E confronts him about it either. 

"What the fuck is up with you?" he swears. 

Vince shrugs. He doesn't know. That's not good enough though, so he says something else. E's face hardens. Whatever Vince said, it must have been wrong. They fight. E's better at it than Vince. It's ironic. 

A week later, E goes home. He promises to be back in a week. He is. For the most part. 

The film is good. Feels good too. E likes the daily's. That's what he says when he calls. 

 

 

A fortnight after they finish shooting and return to LA, Rose calls to discuss some details regarding the premiere of _New York, I love you_. 

Billy had sent Vince the finished cut of his section a few days before. He had not sent it to Rose. Vince tells her it is good. He doesn't know if she is looking for reassurance, but he offers it to her anyway. 

He repeats the same sentiments at the premier. 

For the first time in a while, he brings his mother as his date. When he introduces her to Rose, Rose is polite and as nice as Vince sold her as. In the theatre they sit with her. He is glad for the two seat distance between his mother and Billy. 

As a whole the film is good. Perhaps not great, but solid. Some people love Billy's contribution, while others hate it. Their section doesn't quite sit with the rest of the film. But it works. In a way. Natalie Portman's section follows Billy's. Vince is glad. It smoothes out the wrinkles in his mother's brow. 

 

 

He wants to skip the after parties but he cannot. 

"The job never ends," Rose says as he helps his mother into one of the cars. 

Vince smiles, bright and wide. He waves goodbye to his mother as the car pulls away. In the corner of his eye, he sees Rose doing the same thing. For as bad as she is on the red carpet, standing on the curb next to him, she's almost as good at it as him is. Once she gets those cracks in her veneer fixed she won't be on TV for much longer. He would bet money on that. 

With his mother is safely on her way home, he is alone. He feels reckless. He asks Rose if she'd like to share a car to the after party. She looks at him and he cannot read her expression. (Not that he ever could). She nods though. 

When they step out, he doesn't takes her arm. Later though, when things are winding down and people are talking about moving venues he invites himself back to her place. 

"Do you know what you're doing?" she asks when they get there. 

He says yes. He doesn't mean it. But he's better at this than her. 

She believes him. 

She lets him kiss her again. She lets him take her hand too, lets him open her closed bedroom door and take her into the room. Underneath the metalic shift dress, she's built like a boy. A slight, pre-adolecent boy. All up and down and nothing at all like the ones in LA. Nothing like anyone in LA.

 

 

He doesn't know what reaction he was going for, but Ari and Shauna and E react to his carelessness in various ways. Ari says some things. Shauna earns her paycheck. E doesn't think it was professional. 

That's the reaction he remembers. 

It isn't even much of one. Rose isn't that big a deal. The whole thing doesn't look that bad. It doesn't really mean anything. No one really picks up the story. At the most it's some aditional press for a film that was never going to be a huge success in the scheme of things. That's all. 

 

 

E and Sloan pick a date. 

Because Vince can, because the initial reaction isn't enough, he invites himself to NYC.

"Why are you doing this?" Rose asks when he unzips her jeans and presses his mouth to the side of her neck. 

"Because I want to," Vince answers. 

The delivery is off. His pitch is wrong. It comes out harsher than he intended. Careless. She stills. 

 

 

The wedding is tasteful, elegant and touching. Johnny cries. Turtle drinks too much and Jamie Lynn has to take him home early. Rose compliments Sloan's dress and smiles for at least half of the photographs that she ends up in. Vince plays best man.

 

 

 


End file.
